My sons, pass ye in order of your years,
Before this man of God.
(Eliab advances and kneels. Samuel rises and regards him uncertainly.)
Samuel: Surely the Lord's anointed is before me.
Eliab (triumphantly): Ah, father, art so ready now to chide me?
Samuel: Nay, pause, my son, for the Lord hath said unto me:
Look not on a man's countenance,
Nor the height of his stature;
For the Lord seeth not as man seeth.
For man looketh on the outward appearance,
But the Lord looketh on the heart.
Thy heart is proud, and thou shalt not be king.
(Eliab passes with hanging head to the right. Abinadab advances.)
Abinadab: And I, sir, look on me.
Samuel:
The Lord rejects thee,
For thou art a wine-bibber and a glutton.